Normal People

It felt almost like reading a book where you envision the characters so vividly, you can almost touch them. The chemistry the two leads have, their acting, the cinematography, are all so well blended together, so seamless, it's palpable. A melancholy trip worth taking, if only to remind the ones past teenage years how vulnerable and all-engulfing a young love is.

I started watching this show, thinking it'd be another high school drama with pretty twenty-somethings acting out a middle-aged dude's regurgitation of every other high school drama. I figured that if it didn't suck too bad, it'd be good to have on in the background while I did other things. Instead, I found myself just stopping to watch. Everything about the show, the writing, acting, cinematography, design, etc. captures the tiny moments they way they feel instead of what they look like. It's like life. Beautiful, bland, and, oh, so painful.

Outspoken student Marianne Sheridan (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is an outcast at school. Connell Waldron (Paul Mescal) is the quiet popular jock. His mother works as a cleaning lady in the Sheridan's large family home. The two Irish teens have a secret sexual relationship but he refuses to acknowledge her in public. Their lives and loves would intertwine over the years.

I have to be really honest. I was a little unconvinced at first. The actors are too old to play teens. Both characters have issues that put me off. Marianne is too bitter. Connell is too quiet and his treatment of her is emotionally brutal. By the fourth episode, the age thing stops mattering. Quite frankly if I knew they would be aging up in the show, I wouldn't sweat that issue. As for these characters, they really grow on me, both as roles and the actors. These young new faces are truly engaging and they are beautiful to boot. As characters, there are emotions beneath that are really worthwhile to explore. They become more and more fully formed people and that's the brilliance of this limited series. These are great characters performed by compelling new faces.

I suppose, the freshness is the main virtue of this series about life. The freshness of story and storytelling and acting. An old fashion film, like one of the most profound useful refuges in the circle of eccentric or political correct projects. A story easy to perceive as a personal one. A great exploration of high school and college years. And lovely, precise, wise, splendid crafted definition of friendship. Using naturalism tools.

In short, a great series of the last decade.

And admirable example of storytelling and acting.

This absolute stunner of a TV series crept up on me in the way only the best stories do. Initially it seemed like an honest but moderate enough coming of age story, however soon the sweep of time takes us further along in these people's lives. We watch them grow as their world around them evolves. The melancholy atmosphere, yearning soundtrack, Misty Irish setting and expansive time span lends the whole experience an epic quality, like a modern War and Peace. It feels incredibly rich for a series only 6 hours long and at times left me as an emotional jelly. Let it wash over you and enjoy.